The Letter
by Addicted2Damon
Summary: Post ep. "As I Lay Dying" - AU. What did Damon do during the two days before he asked Elena's forgiveness? WARNING: Gather your tissues.


**THE LETTER**

**A/N This is a one shot deal. What did Damon do during those two days before he died after the scene in the cemetary? In this AU Damon died. It takes place about two days after his death with a flashback to that night when Elena lay beside him. Feedback is appreciated.**

So many lives lost in less than week. Elena stayed in a her room most of the time. She tried to escape what she had witnessed though sleep when it would come, but it was harder and harder to find solace in it. She had lost Jenna, John, and Damon in the same week. Stefan was gone and probably was never returning. Only Jeremy remains and Ric has been staying at the house. They have been of comfort to her.

When she lets her mind wander, the memory of the last moments she shared with Damon come flooding back. He told her that he loves her and she acknowledged that love. The words "I like you now just the way you are" are forever etched in her mind for the rest of her life. She said that to him before she laid a gentle kiss on his lips. He said "Thank you" in return. Then she felt him take his last breath. She kept her promise to him that she would stay with him until the end, but she had hoped for a miracle to come in the form of a cure. She didn't realize how much he had come to mean to her until that moment. The man that turned her life upside down and who sometimes brought her incredible happiness in all the madness was no longer with her.

Elena paced her room before deciding to put her thoughts in her diary. A loose page fell from the book.

_Dear Elena,_

_If you're reading this it means that I'm dead. Elena, I'm so sorry for taking away your choice. You may never forgive me even after I'm gone, but I want you to know how much I love you. _

_I don't know how much time I have before I start to go insane or before the pain starts and that's why I'm writing this letter to you while I'm still lucid. I want you and Jeremy to have everything I own. Everything. You'll find something in your jewelry box. _

Elena went over to her jewelry box and found a little black velvet bag and dumped out the contents in her hand. About 30 diamonds of varying sizes landed in her palm. "Oh, my god!" softly escaped her lips.Elena put them back into the sack and continued to read the letter.

_Don't let anyone cheat you on their worth. I've also directed my bank to transfer all the funds in my account to yours. It's all for you and Jeremy. _

Elena scrunched her face because the last time she checked the account online, there was still only a modest amount of money in it. A few clicks and a password later, the balance in the family account had ballooned to $8 million. She shook her head in utter disbelief, but there it was right there in front of her.

_My car is now Jeremy's. Hope he'll enjoy driving around in it as much as I did. Elena, I want you and Jeremy to be happy and this will make your life easier. _

_Wherever life takes you – whether it's with my brother or someone else, I only want your happiness. If you ultimately choose another path for your life that is not with Stefan, I know that you'll make some guy a wonderful wife and you'll be an even better mom. _

The last sentence brought tears to her eyes. Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle her cry.

_Lastly, please know that I wouldn't change a thing because it meant meeting you, Elena. _

_One more thing, don't mourn forever. Live your life to the fullest._

_Love,_

_D_

Elena folded the latter and tucked it away in her diary. Suddenly, the urge to write her thoughts in it seemed insignificant. She reached for the leather jacket that hung on the chair that belonged to him. She brought it to her nose as she closed her eyes. There was still a faint scent that was uniquely Damon.

She returned to bed. This time sleep came easy and the dreams of what could've been between them.

* * *

><p><strong>Mystic Falls - 12 Years Later<strong>

It's a sunny and warm day. She watched the kids play on the slides and the swings. A familiar voice startles her from behind.

"Hello, Elena."

Her eyes go wide. It couldn't be. Not after all this time...these years. So she spins around to see if it's him.

"Stefan?"

He nodded his head.

It seemed like a million memories came flooding back to her. The last time she saw him he sent her to Damon. The last time she saw him there was a picnic in the town square where _Gone With The Wind_

was to be shown at sunset. Now he's back. She didn't know whether to hug him or keep her distance. He made a choice that night.

"You look...the same." Elena said. Of course, he'd look the same. He won't ever age. But how did she look to him?

He smiled at the hesitation in Elena's voice. "You look gorgeous, Elena."

Elena smiled as she looked down at her growing belly. "Well, a lot has changed since you left."

"I can see that," he replied pointing to her belly. "You've moved on with your life. That's good."

She took toward him. "What happened that night when you left?" She needed an answer to a question that she had long asked herself.

He hesitated before answering. He owed it to her. "Klaus wanted...no he demanded my servitude to help him in exchange for the cure. It was a 10 year deal."

"Help in what way?" she prodded further.

"To create other hybrids." he finally said.

In the end, Klaus won. He had used her to break the curse. Stefan had given his allegiance to a monster whose blood could've cured Damon, but in the end it came to late for him. Damon ended up on the losing end of the deal.

"Why did you come back?" she asked.

"Many reasons, I guess. I wanted to see if the town had changed and I wanted to see for myself how you were doing." Stefan replied.

"My life has been pretty quite. I got married to a wonderful man after college."

All of a sudden a little girl with long brown hair ran up to her demanding her attention. "Mommy!"

"Hey, pumpkin", Elena greeted the happy 3-year-old who she gladly picked up even though it was getting harder to do these days.

"Who's that, mommy?" the inquisitive letter girl asked as she pointed to Stefan.

"That's…Stefan. We knew each other a long time ago before you were born." Elena explained. She was about to call him her friend, but was that even true any more. Since the night that Damon died, she had fought so hard to keep it together both for herself and for Jeremy. Eventually, it got easier and in the end she honored Damon's wish that she live her life to the fullest. She had done all this without Stefan in her life.

"Oh," the little girl said suddenly wanting to get down.

"This is Bailey," Elena introduced her daughter to Stefan.

"Well, hello Bailey," Stefan smiled as he greeted the little girl.

"Hi," the little girl said shyly. "Mommy, I want to go play."

"Sure," Elena said encouraging her to run along while she continued to talk to Stefan.

She watched as the little ran off to play with her friends on the swings.

"She looks a lot like you." Stefan spoke up.

"We think she's more of a blend of us." Elena smiled.

An awkward silence hung between them until Elena broke it. "Why, Stefan? Why didn't you contact me back then? Didn't I deserve some closure on what happened to you?" Her mood had spiraled into resentful.

"It was too dangerous. Klaus didn't know you were alive and I wanted to keep it that way. Then there was…"

"There was what?" Elena asked, encouraging him to tell her everything.

"I had reverted to human blood. It wasn't safe for you to be around me. That night Klaus insisted that I drink blood bag after blood bag or else he wasn't going to provide the cure. Finally, I snapped and I've done horrible things throughout these last few years because of it." He continued.

Elena figured that he meant killed people.

"It's taken me awhile to adjust to animal blood again, but I have." Stefan said feeling the need to put Elena at ease about him being back in Mystic Falls.

"Damon made peace with everything that happened. He wanted you to know that." Elena said.

Stefan nodded his understanding as to what that meant. All was for naught as he had not been able to save Damon, but having stayed away had allowed her to move on from him. It would've have happened sooner or later. Elena had made it clear that she never wanted to be a vampire. She wanted the option of having children, and of growing old.

"Do you miss him?" Stefan asked.

"Yes." Elena said softly.

Elena turned to face Stefan. "But it's finally over…you know all the crazy stuff that happened in our past. It's finally over and we survived, but Damon didn't. I have to believe that he's in a better place now wherever that may be, but I feel like he was cheated out of an earthly life, too.

"I understand." Stefan said.

"Hey, it's getting late and I need to get home." Elena suddenly said. Suddenly she was feeling sad again.

Stefan understood that their conversation had taken an uncomfortable turn. He had already come to terms that Elena had been falling for his brother before he died. Her emotions around Damon were too raw and passionate. He had seen it with his own eyes, but tried so hard not to acknowledge it. This was just one more instance of it.

"I'm glad life has been good to you, Elena." Stefan spoke up. "You deserve everything good in life." He continued.

"Thank you." Elena said in response. "I need to gather up the little one, but I hope you find happiness and peace in yours, Stefan. Take care of yourself." She gave him a small smile. Then as an after thought, she hugged him for the final time.

They let go of each other knowing that this would be last time they would see each other.

When Elena turned around after going over to the slides where Bailey was climbing up one last time with her playmate, Stefan was gone.

The baby kicked incessantly it seemed. It was hard to get to sleep lately and when she did either it was the kicks of her unborn son or need to get up to pee because he seemed to be pushing on her bladder all the time. Tonight he seemed more active than usual. Finally, she gave up and rolled from her sleeping husband's embrace to take a walk around the house. She checked on Bailey who was sound asleep. Not wanting to try going back to bed just yet, she decided to write in her diary about her hopes for the baby. The letter that she had read for the first time over a decade ago was still tucked away in the back. As sprawled out on the couch with a throw cover for warmth, she opened the letter and began to read it again. It brought her comfort now rather than pain to read his words. She stroked her swollen belly and realized that her baby had calmed.

THE END


End file.
